Jerod Haase, a former Kansas basketball star who spent 13 years on Roy Williams' staff at KU and most recently North Carolina, enters his fourth season at the helm of the UAB men's basketball program in 2015-16.

Haase was announced as the fifth head coach in the 36-year history of Blazer men's hoops on March 27, 2012.

Under Haase's guidance, the Blazers returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2015, shocking No. 3 seed Iowa State, 60-59, in the second round. It was UAB's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011 and the Blazers' first victory in the Big Dance since 2005.

The 2015 postseason also brought another first to the UAB men's basketball program. Haase and the Blazers capped off a magical week in Birmingham by winning the program's first-ever Conference USA Tournament Title with wins over WKU, Louisiana Tech and Middle Tennessee during the Birmingham-hosted tourney. The win marked UAB's first league tournament title since 1987, when the Blazers won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

Haase developed a young team during his third year with the program, with a roster comprised of 10 underclassmen -- all players recruited by Haase and his staff. The Blazers were the third-youngest team in NCAA Division I men's basketball during the 2014-15 season and were the youngest squad in the 68-team 2015 NCAA Tournament. Under Haase's watch, Blazer freshman Nick Norton was named one of 21 finalists for the Kyle Macy National Freshman of the Year Award and joined fellow rookie William Lee on the C-USA All-Freshman Team.

Freshman forward Chris Cokley also made a remarkable impression across Conference USA during the 2014-15 season, by claiming the 2015 C-USA Sixth Man of the Year Award. Meanwhile, teammate Robert Brown was named the C-USA Tournament MVP and was a 2015 All-C-USA Third Team selection.

The Blazers made impressive strides under Haase's leadership during the 2013-14 season. UAB finished the year 18-13 overall with three of those wins coming against teams that participated in the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

Of UAB's 18 victories during the 2013-14 season, perhaps none were more impressive than the Blazers' 63-59 win against perennial power and 16th-ranked North Carolina at Bartow Arena on Dec. 1, 2013.The win against UNC marked the Blazers' first victory against a ranked opponent since 2009 and gave UAB its first win against the Tar Heels in four tries.

Statistically, UAB was ranked in the top five nationally in rebounding all season long during the 2013-14 campaign and finished the year as the nation's No. 2 ranked rebounding team with 44.5 boards per game.

The 2013-14 season also saw the emergence of guard Chad Frazier, who averaged 17.7 points per game and scored 20 points or more 10 times on his way to being named the 2014 Conference USA Newcomer of the Year.

During his first year with the Blazers in 2012-13, UAB went 6-3 in its last nine regular season Conference USA games, before the No. 7 seeded Blazers knocked off No.10 seed SMU in the first round of the 2013 C-USA Tournament.

Under Haase's guidance, forward Rod Rucker earned Conference USA Second Team honors after he led the team in points (14.5 ppg) and rebounds (8.2 rpg), while Rucker and teammate Jordan Swing were two of the top scorers in the league as Swing averaged 14.0 points per contest.

Before coming to Birmingham, Haase played for Roy Williams at Kansas and spent 13 years on Williams' staff with the Jayhawks and Tar Heels. He helped North Carolina to national championships in 2005 and 2009. Known as a top recruiter, he has also served as the head coach for the junior varsity team five times in his nine-year UNC tenure.

"This job has everything that I could hope for. This is a dream situation because I can recruit at a high level here," head coach Jerod Haase said. "This is a dream situation because it's a fantastic place to raise a family and be a part of the community."

A 1997 Kansas graduate in business administration, Haase's first job came at his alma mater as the Director of Basketball Operations from 1999-2003. During that time, the Jayhawks reached the 2002 Final Four and the national championship game in 2003.

When Williams was named head coach at North Carolina prior to the 2003-04 season, he brought Haase with him as an assistant coach and director of operations, a title he held from 2003-09. It was a unique position that rotated from assistant coach to director of operations every other year. Haase has served exclusively as an assistant coach since the 2009-10 season.

A native of South Lake Tahoe, Calif., Haase attended the University of California in 1992-93 and then transferred to Kansas. He helped lead the Jayhawks to three consecutive conference titles and finished his career ranked in the top 10 among school leaders in assists, three-point field goals and steals. He started 99 of 101 games at Kansas and scored 1,264 points, averaging 12.5 per game and reaching double figures 74 times. While at KU, Haase was a candidate for the Naismith and Wooden Awards.

As a senior in 1996-97, Haase started with Jacque Vaughn, Scot Pollard, Paul Pierce and Raef LaFrentz as Kansas finished with a 34-2 record. He averaged 12.0 points per game despite playing with a broken wrist. As a sophomore in 1994-95, he scored 15.0 points a game, was named the Big Eight Conference Newcomer of the Year and also was tabbed a second-team all-conference selection.

Haase started 23 games in 1992-93 as a freshman at Cal, where he teamed in the backcourt with Jason Kidd. Haase was a first-team GTE Academic All-American as a senior, a second-team Academic All-American as a junior and was an academic all-conference selection three times. The Jayhawks' Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 1997, Haase later earned a master's degree in business at KU in 2000.

Haase co-wrote "Floor Burns," detailing the 1996-97 KU season, which sold more than 30,000 copies. Floor burns are a statistic the Kansas stat crew created in honor of Haase, who had 165 of them as a junior. He has also produced a basketball instructional video.

Born April 1, 1974, Haase is one of five brothers and sisters to play intercollegiate sports. He is married to the former Mindy Meidinger of Lenexa, Kan. The couple has two sons, Gavin (7) and Garrett (4), and a daughter, Gabrielle (3).

Honors: GTE First Team Academic All-America (1997) GTE Second Team Academic All-America (1996) Big Eight Newcomer of the Year (1995) Kansas Male Scholar Athlete of the Year (1997) Second Team All-Big Eight (1995) Big Eight All-Defensive Team (1996)Third Team All-Big XII (1996)